HomeCounsular SectionVisa Services A report includes samples of recent derogatory and inflammatory comments and incitement by Israeli government officials and leaders specifically meant to distort reality and mislead public opinion.”

“The real incitement stems from Israel’s military occupation of Palestine and its enslavement of an entire nation. The Israeli hardline extremist government led by Benjamin Netanyahu is responsible for generating a culture of hate and racism in Israel, inciting violence and feeding extremism. Updated monthly, this report includes samples of recent derogatory and inflammatory comments and incitement by Israeli government officials and leaders specifically meant to distort reality and mislead public opinion.”

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu: “We continue with the development momentum of settlement in Judea and Samaria [occupied West Bank] and approve thousands of new housing units.” (May 24, 2018)

“I especially congratulate [the settlement of] Ma'aleh Adumim, which will build hundreds of [settlement] units after a long period in which we have advanced its construction plan. This is another step in the development of the settlements and in the near future we will approve additional units.” (May 24, 2018)

“You can only build peace on truth, and the truth is that Jerusalem has been and will always be the capital of the Jewish people, the capital of the Jewish state.” (May 14, 2018)

“For over 3,000 years it [Jerusalem] has been the capital of our people, and only of our people [sic]. We dreamed of returning to rebuild it, the city that is joined together – this is exactly what we are doing today. We will make a series of decisions to build up and develop [settlements in] Jerusalem, east and west, north and south, in all directions – to both reveal its past and build its future. I know that there will be difficulties along the way; there have been difficulties for the past 70 years. We have met them since 1949 and up to recent years. We will also meet them in the future.” (May 13, 2018)

Defense Minister Avigdor Lieberman: “We promised to promote construction in Judea and Samaria [occupied West Bank], and we are fulfilling. The 2,500 new housing units that we will approve next week in the planning council are for immediate construction in 2018.” (May 24, 2018)

“In the coming months, we will bring thousands of additional housing units for approval, and we will continue to settle and develop Judea and Samaria [occupied West Bank], through action.” (May 24, 2018)

“There is no free lunch. The opening of the U.S. Embassy in Jerusalem will come at a price and it is worth paying it. We should welcome, and be prepared, to pay a price.” (May 5, 2018)

“The strengthening of settlement in Judea and Samaria [occupied West Bank is] a primary security interest of the State of Israel.” (May 4, 2018)

Justice Minister Ayelet Shaked: “The rights of Judea and Samaria [occupied West Bank] residents [settlers] are no less important than the rights of other citizens.” (May 29, 2018)

“The response must be very severe, as if blood was shed here … All options are possible, including the occupation of the Gaza Strip.” (May 29, 2018)

“[If Israel wanted]…the Gaza border to be completely quiet, there’s no choice but to conquer the Strip.” (May 15, 2018)

“The end of the era of uprooting settlements without purpose in Judea and Samaria [occupied West Bank], was led by a team that found legal ways to regulate settlements in Judea and Samaria and to end the shame of evacuating settlements for no real reason.” (May 4, 2018)

Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Uri Ariel: “Settlement is Zionism at its best and instills the basic values of our people, including mutual responsibility, connection to the land, innovation, and Torah commandments that are dependent on the Land.” (May 24, 2018)

“... it is possible and necessary to settle in Judea and Samaria [occupied West Bank] after 50 years of settlement.” (May 4, 2018)

“After two or three of them [Palestinian protestors in Gaza] get a bullet in the knees, it will not happen again.” (May 3, 2018)

Minister of National Infrastructure, Energy and Water Resources Yuval Steinitz: I do not exclude the possibility of conquering Gaza and to eliminate it once and for all. (May 29, 2018)

Minister of Public Security, Strategic Affairs and Minister of Information Gilad Erdan: “Due to rising tensions during the day and rockets fired, Israel needs to resume its policy of assassination in the [occupied] West Bank tonight.” (May 29, 2018)

“Despite the number of dead, we need to remember and remind: We’re not speaking about demonstrations. We’re talking about terrorists of a terrorist organisation who endanger Israeli residents. All responsibility for the bloodshed lies with the leaders of Hamas, who, with Nazi anger, endlessly shed blood to erase from people’s memories their own failures in the management of the Gaza Strip. Here it is, the truth.” (May 14, 2018)

“The number of killed [in the besieged Gaza Strip] doesn’t indicate anything – just as the number of Nazis who died in the world war doesn’t make Nazism something you can explain or understand.” (May 14, 2018)

Minister of Construction and Housing Yoav Gallant: “The main topic regarding Judea and Samaria and the Jordan Valley [occupied West Bank] in the Israeli discourse touches upon two natural and clear elements. The first of them is our right to the place. I have no doubt about this right. The places [settlements] where we build and inhabit today is where King David walked – this is true for Hebron and Jerusalem as well as other places.” (May 11, 2018)

“We must view the area of the Jordan Valley and Judea and Samaria [occupied West Bank] and all of the area west of them as one unit or territory, which together, allows for the defense of the State of Israel.” (May 11, 2018)

“We must implement sovereignty gradually, according to priorities, with the most obvious places being in the area of Gush Etzion and Beitar Ilit and Efrat on the way to Teddy in Jerusalem. The second area is Ma’ale Adumim and the third area is the Jordan Valley.” (May 11, 2018)

Intelligence Minister Yisrael Katz: “We need to separate from Gaza, to stop the fuel and water, and to rely on military power as in the case with southern Lebanon.” (May 30, 2018)

Deputy Defense Minister Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan: “I very much hope that with God's help, the construction of another section of the [apartheid] wall near the local school [between the settlement of Beit El and the Palestinian Jalazone refugee camp] will be completed...300 [settlement] housing units will be built in the near future and the community is flourishing.” (May 27, 2018)

Speaker of the Knesset Yuli Yoel Edelstein (Likud): “On Sunday we celebrated 51 years since the unification of [Jerusalem] under Israeli sovereignty, and on Monday the celebration intensified with the relocation of the United States Embassy to Jerusalem, the significance of which is unequivocal: Jerusalem, and Jerusalem alone, is the eternal capital of the State of Israel and the Jewish People.” (May 16, 2018)

Knesset Member Oren Hazan (Likud): “You need to understand that the people who were killed in Gaza are not human beings. They are terrorists and all they wanted was to cross the border, come to the Jewish State, come to a Jewish city, slaughter Jews in their beds, and conquer us.” (May 23, 2018)

Yesh Atid Chairman and Knesset Member Yair Lapid: “Every time you attack us, we only get stronger. There may also be a price for this day. We heard the threats, we saw the demonstrations today in Gaza and, to a limited extent, in Judea and Samaria [occupied West Bank] as well. I say from here to our enemies: You will not frighten us. Our Jerusalem. One large, united city. And within it one, great nation united around it.” (May 14, 2018)

Opposition leader and Knesset Member Isaac Herzog (Zionist Union): “The dedication of the American embassy in Jerusalem today laid the foundation for international recognition of Jerusalem as the capital of Israel, and I call on more countries to follow suit.” (May 14, 2018)

Knesset Member Bezalel Smotrich (Jewish Home): “I pray for the day on which the Israeli police will have the courage to enforce the law and sovereignty in the [Palestinian] Bedouin and Arab communities in the Negev and the Galilee. They are only strong against settlers. Zeroes.” (May 27, 2018)

“Mayor” of Jerusalem Nir Barkat: “I am proud and excited this morning to hang the first signs we have prepared for the US Embassy which will open next week in Jerusalem. This is a historic event and I thank President [Donald] Trump for that. Jerusalem is the eternal capital of the Jewish people and now the world is beginning to recognize this. Happy Jerusalem Day.” (May 7, 2018)